Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $885,000 Stake in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,511 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,801,080,000 after acquiring an additional 258,477 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,492,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522,715 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,430,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,037,000 after purchasing an additional 466,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,959,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,090,000 after purchasing an additional 479,692 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AstraZeneca by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 3,745,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,407,000 after purchasing an additional 564,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on AstraZeneca in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AstraZeneca presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of AZN stock opened at $77.25 on Wednesday. AstraZeneca PLC has a 12 month low of $62.75 and a 12 month high of $87.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.81. The company has a market capitalization of $239.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.46.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.05). AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 13.01%. As a group, equities analysts expect that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

AstraZeneca Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. This is a boost from AstraZeneca’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. AstraZeneca’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.15%.

AstraZeneca Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.